Bechuanaland National Airways was an airline

Airline

An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...

 of the Bechuanaland Protectorate and was based in Francistown

Francistown

Francistown or Nyangabgwe is the second largest city in Botswana, with a population of about 85,363, and often described as the "Capital of the North". It is located in eastern Botswana, about north-northeast from the capital, Gaborone...

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The airline was formed on 1 October 1965 with a government grant by Johnny Gibson

John Albert Axel Gibson

John Albert Axel "Johnny" Gibson DSO, DFC was Royal Air Force officer and a noted World War II air ace.- Early life :...

 and took over the route network of privately-owned Bechuanaland Safaris. Assistance from British airline Autair International Airways

Court Line

Court Line was a prominent British holiday charter airline during the early 1970s based at Luton Airport in Bedfordshire. It also provided bus services in Luton and surrounding areas....

 was given, seeing Autair providing Bechuanaland National Airways with its first two aircraft, Douglas DC-3

Douglas DC-3

The Douglas DC-3 is an American fixed-wing propeller-driven aircraft whose speed and range revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Its lasting impact on the airline industry and World War II makes it one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made...

s. The airline was also technically supported by Air Trans Africa

Air Trans Africa

Air Trans Africa was formed by Jack Malloch in 1964 after his first company, Rhodesian Air Services failed in 1962. It operated a Super Constellation, a Douglas C-54 and a DH114 Heron aircraft before Southern Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence...

.

Operations of the airline commenced on 15 November 1965, and the airline immediately began the development of a large domestic air network from Francistown to seven cities. Internationally, the airline operated on routes linking Francistown to Bulawayo

Bulawayo

Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital Harare, with an estimated population in 2010 of 2,000,000. It is located in Matabeleland, 439 km southwest of Harare, and is now treated as a separate provincial area from Matabeleland...

 in Rhodesia

Rhodesia

Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...

 and Livingstone

Livingstone, Zambia

Livingstone or Maramba is a historic colonial city and present capital of the Southern Province of Zambia, a tourism centre for the Victoria Falls lying north of the Zambezi River, and a border town with road and rail connections to Zimbabwe on the other side of the Falls...

 in Zambia

Zambia

Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....

, and from Lobatse to Johannesburg

Johannesburg

Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

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The airline's route network saw it flying Bulawayo-Francistown-Serowe

Serowe

Serowe was famed as Botswana's largest village after Molepolole. Serowe has a rich history in Botswana'; it being the capital for the Bamangwato people in the early part of the 20th century and for being the birth place of many of Botswana's Presidents...

-Gaborone

Gaborone

' is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 191,776 based on a 2006 survey, about 10% of the total population of Botswana....

-Johannesburg-Gaborone-Lobatse-Ghansi on Mondays; Ghansi-Lobatse-Gaborone-Serowe-Francistown on Tuesdays; Francistown-Maun

Maun

Maun is the fifth largest town in Botswana. As of 2001, it had a population of 43,776. It is an eclectic mix of modern buildings and native huts. Maun is the "tourism capital" of Botswana and the administrative centre of Ngamiland district...

-Serondellas-Livingstone-Serondellas-Maun-Francistown on Wednesdays; Francistown-Maun-Ghansi-Maun-Francistown on Thursdays; Francistown-Serowe-Gaborone-Lobatse-Johannesburg-Lobatse-Gaborone-Serowe-Francistown on Fridays; and Francistown to Bulawayo on Saturdays.

Francistown-Johannesburg and Francistown-Johannesburg-Francistown flights were commenced in early 1966 on Mondays and Fridays respectively. The airline ceased operations late in 1966 and entered receivership. Operations of Bechuanaland National Airways were taken over by Botswana National Airways

Botswana National Airways

Botswana National Airways was an airline based in Gaborone, Botswana.The airline took over services from Bechuanaland National Airways which ceased operations in late 1966. The airline was formed by Johnny Gibson under the leadership of D...

at the end of 1966, of which Gibson was also involved in setting up.